Because I Can't Leave Bad Enough Alone -OR- Sparkling Coffee

At some point I had wondered about coffee + sparkling water, but like many things that occur to me, I never bothered to try it because I figured it would turn out poorly and also because I probably got distracted immediately after thinking it. A few weeks ago someone mentioned he'd tried coffee with seltzer and it was gross. Which brought it back to mind. So tonight, something --apparently a desire for yet one more sleepless night-- possessed me to try it out. For some reason, I had Pellegrino cold in the fridge, (although it was getting a little flat), so I poured some into a glass and added some Monin caramel syrup. Once I got that ratio right by tasting, I added some cold coffee. Mmmm. Drinkable!

A few minutes later, the kids and I headed out for a walk in the cool (for September in Texas) just before dusk, wet, soft breeze. We ran into my son's best friend who joined us on our walk which turned into the 7 year old boys and my 3 year old girl lining up at the start of each driveway, waiting for my signal and then racing to the start of the next driveway. I made this game up  1. To prevent them from getting smooshed   2. To trick them into listening to me/work on their following directions and   3. Hopefully wear them the hell out.

UP and DOWN the street, UP and DOWN the street. The friend's little sister on her pink almost-a-big-wheel deathcycle joined us partway through. She likes to brake after the last possible moment and and a few inches past where you are standing. After she has just driven through you. Well, the boys. I was smart enough to stay out of her path of destruction!

Then finally we came back inside and out the back door for watermelon slices on the patio. Mostly because I like to clean up messes after a long drawn out snack time. ;-) But it was gorgeous out and little monkeys need to get all sticky, so fine. They *finally* finished and I threw them upstairs and into the shower and...I was alone in the kitchen. My thoughts again turned to coffee. Perhaps a fear that I still might manage to somehow sleep and have a productive Tuesday coupled with knowing that the caramel syrup was cheating, since my friend would *never* sweeten his coffee...I opted for another creation...taking advantage of the fine print governing this drinkmaking. Although sweetening is a no-no, surely the addition of alcohol is *always* favorable. Surely if said alchohol happens to be a LITTLE sweet, that can be overlooked.

So, more Pellegrino, not quite the rest of the pot of coffee and the end of the creme de cacao bottle...which was mostly empty. No, really! Let's see, a little experimentiation in the kitchen....counts as science somewhere, right? Plus a little cleaning out of the liquor shelf of the pantry...Look, I decluttered! I organized! Oh, and a fairly tasty drink. ;-) And hopefully I'll be just wired enough to finish this volunteer thing I've been putting off and still manage to sleep some.

Note: Yeah, that was wishful thinking. It's almost 1 a.m. and I still haven't sent that e-mail. Oh well, tomorrow it is! I'll just make *extra* coffee. :-D